Have you ever waited for something for a long time?
As a kid, I remember the agonizing wait for a particular day. It always seemed so far away, and I would create a countdown so that I could experience this day getting nearer. What was I waiting for? The last day of school. No more homework, and no more pencils—summer vacation had arrived.
The season of Advent is also characterized by waiting. But this waiting is for something much greater than the last day of school: It’s waiting for the greatest arrival in history. Advent recognizes the waiting for the coming of the Messiah, the king who would come and rescue the people and mend all the broken things.
In a way, Advent looks both to the past and to the future. It looks to the past, when God’s chosen people were waiting for the Messiah to come. They were in a sad, broken situation, and they longed for redemption as they placed their hope in the promised King. Advent also looks to the future, as followers of the Messiah await his second coming. We are also in a sad, broken situation, and we long for redemption as we place our hope in the King’s return.
Remembrance in Advent
As we look to the past, we learn about an appropriate response to this waiting: confession.
As God’s people were in exile in the 6th century B.C., they knew that their wretched existence was because of their sin. Their rebellion against God led to their beloved land being invaded by another wicked people. Their disloyalty and dishonor of the Lord allowed their stronghold city, Jerusalem, to be conquered. Their evil actions, thoughts, and words brought the most devastating loss: the fall of the temple.
Lamentations records poetry that expresses the people’s mourning and grieving over their losses of the promised land, their security, and their sense of connection with God. They were indeed lamenting. Personifying Jerusalem as a woman, they recognized that their calamity was a result of their sin:
Jerusalem sinned grievously;
therefore she became filthy;
all who honored her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans
and turns her face away.“The LORD is in the right,
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
my young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.”Lamentations 1:8, 18 (ESV)
We see here that the people confessed their sins. They knew that they had violated their relationship with God and were suffering the consequences (forewarned in Deuteronomy 24). They acknowledged that their rebellion had brought this sorry state.
As they were in exile, forcibly removed from their homeland, the people longed for hope. During this time, God sent prophets like Jeremiah, Micah, and Isaiah to give them hope. They were to look forward to the coming King, the promised Messiah who would rescue the people from oppression and bring his eternal reign of goodness.
Hope in Advent
Today, as we observe Advent, we are in a position that is both different and similar to the people in exile.
We’re in a position that is different. We live after the coming of the Messiah. God entered into history and took on humanity. Jesus was born, and his title is Christ—the anointed one. He is the Messiah that the people were waiting for. And his death on the cross provides redemption for us who follow him, so that we are no longer separated from God. In fact, we can become sons and daughters of God:
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Galatians 4:4-6
However, we’re in a position that is similar to the people in exile. After Jesus Christ rose from the dead, he sent his Spirit to usher in the church. Christ is now seated at the right hand of God the Father. But he promises that he will return and keep the rest of the promises made to the people of God. So we wait, just like the exiled people.
Just like the people in Lamentations, we are in a sorry state. We see so much devastation around us—wars, disease, hunger, disaster, fighting. The world is corrupt, and we feel its wretchedness.
And as we reflect on our world, we realize that it is miserable because of our sin. Our rebellion against God has led to so much pain and suffering around us. Our disloyalty and dishonor to the Lord have resulted in death and violence. Our evil actions, thoughts, and words have resulted in this world being broken.
Just like the people long ago, let us confess our sins. As we respond to Advent, let us grieve our transgressions as we see how we fall short of God’s standard.
However, let us grieve with hope. We have hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, our King who has promised his return. When the Messiah comes again, he will set all things right:
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
Revelation 21:4-5
This Advent season, we are waiting. And during this waiting, it is fitting for us to confess our sins. But let us confess as people with hope. Maranatha—Come, Lord Jesus.